Anita Belle Colton, known professionally as Anita O'Day, was an American jazz singer and self proclaimed “song stylist” widely admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appearances that shattered the traditional image of the "girl singer". Refusing to pander to any female stereotype, O'Day presented herself as a "hip" jazz musician, wearing a band jacket and skirt as opposed to an evening gown. She changed her surname from Colton to O'Day, pig Latin for "dough", slang for money.
Jazz on a Summer's Day is a 1959 concert film set at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, Rhode Island. The film was directed by commercial and fashion photographer Bert Stern and Aram Avakian, who also edited the film. The Columbia Records jazz producer, George Avakian, was the musical director of the film.
Richard Stuart Linklater is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for making films that deal thematically with suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. His films include the comedies Slacker (1990) and Dazed and Confused (1993); the Before trilogy of romance films: Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), and Before Midnight (2013); the music-themed comedy School of Rock (2003); the adult animated films Waking Life (2001), A Scanner Darkly (2006), and Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood (2022); the coming-of-age drama Boyhood (2014); the comedy film Everybody Wants Some!! (2016); and the romantic comedy Hit Man (2023).
Steal This Movie! is a 2000 American biographical film directed by Robert Greenwald and written by Bruce Graham, based on the 1976 book To America with Love: Letters From the Underground by Anita and Abbie Hoffman and the 1992 book Abbie Hoffman: American Rebel by Marty Jezer. The film follows 1960s radical figure Abbie Hoffman, and stars Vincent D'Onofrio and Janeane Garofalo, with Jeanne Tripplehorn and Kevin Pollak.
Let's Get Lost is a 1988 American documentary film, written and directed by Bruce Weber, about the turbulent life and career of jazz trumpeter Chet Baker, who died four months before the film's release. The title is derived from the song "Let's Get Lost" by Jimmy McHugh and Frank Loesser from the 1943 film Happy Go Lucky, which Baker recorded for Pacific Records.
"I Won't Dance" is a song with music by Jerome Kern that has become a jazz standard. The song has two different sets of lyrics: the first written by Oscar Hammerstein II and Otto Harbach in 1934, and second written by Dorothy Fields in 1935.
Encounters at the End of the World is a 2007 American documentary film by Werner Herzog about Antarctica and the people who choose to spend time there. It was released in North America on June 11, 2008, and distributed by ThinkFilm. At the 81st Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Documentary Feature.
Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten is a 2007 documentary film directed by Julien Temple about Joe Strummer, the lead singer of the British punk rock band The Clash, that went on to win the British Independent Film Awards as Best British Documentary 2007. The film premiered 20 January 2007 at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. It was also shown at the Dublin Film Festival on 24 February 2007.
Gary Ronald McFarland was an American composer, arranger, conductor, vibraphonist, and vocalist. He recorded for the jazz imprints Verve and Impulse! Records during the 1960s. DownBeat magazine said he made "one of the more significant contributors to orchestral jazz". A 2015 review of a McFarland DVD documentary called him "one of the busiest New York jazz arrangers of the 1960s". The review further stated that McFarland's "ascendance coincided with the rise of bossa nova, and McFarland was adept at translating the mercurial song form into orchestrations. He wrote some beautiful orchestral settings for great soloists, yet wasn't immune to commercial forces."
"Stella by Starlight" is a popular song by Victor Young that was drawn from thematic material composed for the main title and soundtrack of the 1944 Paramount Pictures film The Uninvited. Appearing in the film's underscore as well as in source music as an instrumental theme song without lyrics, it was turned over to Ned Washington, who wrote the lyrics for it in 1946.
Ian McCrudden is an independent film director and writer who lives in Hollywood, California.
Anita O'Day and Billy May Swing Rodgers and Hart is a 1960 studio album by American jazz singer Anita O'Day, arranged by Billy May. O'Day and May had previously recorded an album dedicated to a single composer, Cole Porter, in 1959.
"Four" is a 1954 jazz standard. It was first recorded and arranged in 1954 by jazz trumpeter Miles Davis and released on his album Miles Davis Quartet. It is a 32-bar ABAC form.
The Amazing Nina Simone is a 2015 American documentary film by director Jeff L. Lieberman. The film details the life, legacy and musical accomplishments of singer, musician, pianist, songwriter and Civil Rights activist, Nina Simone through interviews with over 50 of her friends, family, band members, lovers and fellow activists. The film has been called the best of the three Nina Simone films by The New Yorker, and "The Nina Simone film we should all be watching" by Blavity.
Whitney: Can I Be Me is a 2017 British-American documentary film that was written, co-produced by Nick Broomfield and directed by Broomfield and Rudi Dolezal. The film's subject is the life and career of singer Whitney Houston.
Chasing Trane: The John Coltrane Documentary is a 2017 American documentary film, written and directed by John Scheinfeld.
If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast is a 2017 American documentary film directed by Danny Gold that premiered on May 19, 2017 on HBO.
Sinatra: All or Nothing at All is an American documentary film that premiered in two parts on April 5 and 6, 2015 on HBO.
Period. End of Sentence. is a 2018 documentary short film directed by Rayka Zehtabchi about Indian women leading a quiet sexual revolution. The film stars Arunachalam Muruganantham, Shabana Khan, Gouri Choudari, Ajeya, and Anita. The documentary short follows a group of local women in Hapur, India, as they learn how to operate a machine that makes low-cost, biodegradable sanitary pads, which they sell to other women at affordable prices. This not only helps to improve feminine hygiene by providing access to basic products but also supports and empowers the women to shed the taboos in India surrounding menstruation – all while contributing to the economic future of their community. The film is inspired by the life of Arunachalam Muruganantham, a social activist from Coimbatore, India.
Mary J. Blige's My Life is a 2021 American documentary film about the musical career of American recording artist Mary J. Blige directed by Vanessa Roth. Commemorating the 25th anniversary of her 1994 studio album My Life, the film was released on June 25, 2021, on Amazon Prime Video.
